ChildrenOfTheFallenStar
by KandyQueen
Summary: Karkat and his only other family memebr Eridan travel to a small planet to study an alien tribe of trolls as a 'present' to Karkat for his 18th birhday. Joined by Feferi(linguist), Aradia(anthropologist),Sollux(tech), an Kanaya(to keep poor Karkat sane) they get caught up in some funny shenanigans and some mysterious culture revolving around a goddess known only as the Sylph of Lif


You really hated spaceships. Not the kind of spaceships that you see in your history textbooks or on tv. Oh no, for your family it was a small, dinky red thing that barely fit the four of you and toodled its way along from planet to planet. You even hated its stupid name, The Dualscar, which your oh so 'clever' uncle and legal guardian came up with a few years back when he purchased the thing from an astroid colony for 40 units and a couple cheap drinks. You preferred your own nickname for it The Liferaft because it reminded you of a dingy in the ocean, barely holding on, small and useless. Your uncle Eridan had got this bright idea that for your seventeenth birthday he was going to take you out to one of the inhabited planets he's been studying. He was a fairly known, alien anthropologist and was credited for discovering over twenty new species of sentient life and hundreds of new plant and fauna on different planets. So thus you were now seated in the small living area of the ship with Eridan and his crush Feferi piloting the ship while Sollux, one of Eridans old time friends and computer geek, was testing all the equipment, then to top it off Kanaya, a motherly figure to you was now fussing over your hair and curled waves it had become. Overall, it was fucking boring and you were beyond fucking bored. The last member of the clusterfuck was Aradia, who Sollux had been dating for close to a good year now; she was off in the small kitchenette making everyone what smelled like grilled cheese and soup. Eventually you got fed up with Kanaya's tugging on your hair and you waved her hand away from your sore scalp.

"Okay Kan enough you're going to make me bald!" You yelled at her pretending to smooth down the wild hair of yours that you were convinced she made ever more wavy.

"Now now no need to get all fussy I was just trying to make you look presentable! We are meeting a whole new species for the first time and a humanoid one at that~" she exclaimed happily while continuing to look over her 'work of art'.

"She's right Karkat we'll need to go over some things anyway since this is yours and Kanaya's first time on another inhabited planet. Obviously they don't speak English so only the head chief The Grand Highblood will understand the English he has learned and maybe a few of the other elders of the village. Also keep in mind their customs are very different than ours and they can be offended fairly easily so keep your posture relaxed and don't stare directly in their eyes for too long, also if you feel threatened hold your ground don't show any weak points like your neck or stomach if you can help it! Their planet also has a longer night cycle than ours does and the sun they orbit is not nearly as bright as ours so keep your flashlights charged but don't shine it in their face their very sensitive to lights as well as loud noises so talk softly when you can. Me, Eridan and Aradia will be doing the most translating and I believe we will be arriving there within an earth hour. Don't forget Karkat to wear your contacts they can be superstitious and I don't want your special color to scare them" Sollux babbled on about a bunch of shit you really didn't care about.

Sollux had meant for you to hide the fact that you for some stupid reason were born with eyes so Auburn they shine a bright candy apple red labeling you a freak. Sollux had explained when you were a kid that your mother had consumed a rare plant on another alien planet without knowing she was pregnant and that could have caused your eye mutation, colder than average body temperature as well as why your skin was so pale and sensitive to contact, leading you to be forced into wearing sweaters and long clothing for most your life. It didn't bother you nearly as much now as it did when you were young, you got used to being cold all the time and wearing the sweater that you had to admit we're fairly comfortable.

"Everyone hungry~?" Aradia called bringing in a tray of grilled cheese and what looked like tomato soup. It smelled amazing and your stomach loudly agreed with you.

Aradia giggled a bit In her warm toned voice and brushed her curled long hair back so that she could set the tray down and pass out everyone's food.

"Sol hun would you like me to take over for a bit while you eat? You have been paying with those cameras for a good while?" Aradia asked softly walking over to her boyfriend and running a hand lovingly through his hair.

Sollux made an aggravated noise but relaxed into her hands while you devoured your grilled cheese.

"Yeah maybe I'm having trouble with the focus on the dexten pro it doesn't seem to want to focus on zoom and that will be important for documenting the trolls from afar without invading too much in their personal space."

Aradia smiles brightly and nodded leaning over the table to collect the camera looking it over.

"I'm sure I can get it working before we land~ just sit back and eat don't want you to get a stroke~" she teased pulling her copious amounts of hair up into a high ponytail to better see the camera while Sollux made quick work of his sandwich dipping it in the soup.

"Bleh would you two save the lovey divert stuff for your own tent!" Eridan shouted from the cockpit. You think he might have formed a crush on Sollux as well.

"Hey be nice Eridan!" Feferi called in her high bubbly tone though it sounded a bit strained. You weren't surprised they had been piloting the whole trip.

Part of why you really liked your uncle was that he was openly bisexual and didn't mind in the slightest what you identified as long as you were happy. Not that you were in an active relationship, I mean you had gone on a few dates with both girls and guys but none of them stuck. You had been kind of seeing John, an old friend with a big buck tooth grin and a comedic personality, but when he moved off planet with his family the two of you kind of broke it off deciding long distance relationship would never work. Then There was Dave a sarcastic cool guy with dumb hipster shades and shittier art than you but he was way out of your league and you think he liked someone else. Lastly that left you with Terezi. You had actually really loved her, you think at least. She was witty, smart, really pretty and was great company. But, you fucked that up hard and she hasn't spoken to you in weeks because of it. You can't even say your mad, you broke her heart.

A lurch in the ship caused you to escape the containing bubble of your own thoughts and you glanced out the window to see the shadow of a large partially water colored planet appearing.

"We're heading into orbit now everyone buckle up!" Eridan called.

Had you really been spacing out that long? The coldness of your soul confirmed that suspicion and you reached to buckle yourself in preparing to land. You kind of wondered what kind of humanoid species lived here. Eridan had said they had two legs and arms like humans but their skin was grey and they grew large horns like animals. You think you recall he also mentioned their blood being different colors but he had spoke a lot of nonsense at you the whole trip so you don't really remember.

The ship gave another lurch and you squeezed your eyes shut hating this part and willing yourself not to lose your lunch. After about a good twenty minutes of agony you felt the bump of the landing feet hitting solid ground. Eridan gave a pleased sign joined by Feferi as well.

"Whale we're here everyone~!" Feferi called using her stereotypical fish puns to brighten the mood of all of us wary tired passengers.

"Are you doing alright Karkat?" Kanaya asked beside you a time of worry lacing her question.

"Stomach just decided to take some impromptu salsa lessons and is now parading around doing flips like the fucking dancing with the stars finale" You grumbled taking a tentative sip of water from the bottle you carried.

Sollux couldn't help but chuckle at that and toss you a couple of blue pills.

"Those should help with that trust me I got ship sick a lot my first few times with long distance travel."

You grabbed the small pills looking them over before deciding fuck it, better than puking your guys out upon arrival. You swallowed them down with your water, it only leaving a minor bitterness in the back of your throat while you got up to go put in your green contacts. Not that you didn't wear other colored contacts fairly commonly you were still a little salty about having to wear them the entire trip. Back home you would have to switch between hats and sunglasses frequently to keep your eyes from getting burned out by the concentrated power of the fucking sun. You also somehow still had to slather yourself in stupid sun screen because the atmosphere here was cleaner to allow more sun threw. You also vaguely remember Eridan talking about the oxygen being a bit more thin here than earths but he said it was similar to being on mountains back home which launched him into telling you to take frequent breaks and drink more water and to let him know if you started to get dizzy and to wear sun screen. Blah blah blah. You appreciated his worry and care but damn if it didn't get excessive at times.

After a good fifteen minutes or so your nausea subsided and the team was starting to unpack equipment off the ship heading over to their campsite. You reluctantly exited the ship looking around at the thick jungle like trees surrounding the small clearing you landed in. The trees were an array of almost bioluminescent blues and purples and you had to admire the way they shone. The sun in the sky was mostly covered by clouds and was a soft faded green color. Overall it was fairly different from any of the few planets you've been on but those were all planets in really close solar systems not like this one which was a several hour flight, three warps and one black hole. Down below you could see Aradia and Eridan moving around and setting up a huge tent to hold all the equipment and several smaller sleeping tents while Kanaya and Feferi were getting wood to build a fire and Sollux was setting up a couple cameras.

"Anything I could help out with?" You asked because might as well help, better than sitting around being bored.

"You can come help me and Feferi sort out all of the chairs and gather some fire wood? It does tend to get pretty cold at night here." Kanaya called offering you a smile.

You shrugged stepping down and looking around to start collecting some decent sized sticks while Kanaya and Feferi were gathering the much larger logs. You forgot that despite Feferis petite size and slim body that she was fairly strong and could easily lift around 100 pounds you guessed.

"You can set the wood over here CrabKat~!" Feferi called cheerfully while depositing a couple logs as big around as your leg.

You set your meager bundle of sticks down in the pile feeling more inadequate than before you were not helping. Feferi glanced at your bundle and then gave you a big smile.

"Those will work perfectly for starting up the fire thanks CrabCatch~!"

You gave her a half assed smile an went about trying to make yourself useful.

A couple hours later your camp was all set up and you were now lounging back in a chair beside a fire trying to warm your shivering self. Fuck you hated cold weather it didn't help your cold blood even with the several layers on. Thankfully Kanaya to the rescue draped a thick fur lined blanket around you that helped heat you up nicely in a good ten minutes.

"Alright so plan for tomorrow! We'll get up early and pack up the recording equipment then it's an hour hike to where we'll meet our escort who will raft us down the river to the tribe. Sollux will set up the recording equipment, I'll be help translating and documenting their culture along with Feferi, Aradia will be assisting in the botony and zoology and Kanaya will be assisting with any medical necessities. Oh and Karkat will be our Cartographer~ I would like you to plan out a map of everything!" Eridan called out while Aradia cooked up some chicken from home adding in a few indigenous herbs she found around camp.

So that's the reason Eridan brought you along. Well, that and he bribed you to buy you a new phone if you came. Your last one got smacked from your hand at school by an asshole named Dave and shattered into like a zillion pieces. You guess being out here for like a year and drawing some dumb pictures, actually putting your art classes to use, couldn't be too bad.

"Here Karkat hunny this should help keep you warm too~" Aradia handed you a bowl of chicken that she made into a stew. It smelled amazing and you took the bowl offereing a genuine grin.

"Thanks Aradia it smells really good" you commented and took a tentative sip after blowing on it a few times.

Everyone ate giving compliments to Aradias cooking and before long you were all tuckered out and curling up in your sleeping bag the soft sound of the wind in the trees and the sizzling fire actually coaxing your usually insomniac self to a quick sleep.

\--

Morning came way too fast for your liking and you were being gently shaked awake by Kanaya.

"Karkat come along Now it's time to get up we'll be heading out as soon as Sollux finishes packing the cameras"

You slowly opened your eyes groaning a bit and sitting up and rubbing your face. You heard Kanaya chuckle some and you moved to put in your contacts blinking at her.

"If you keep scowling like that you'll get wrinkles~" She teases poking your forehead.

You made a groggy complain noise and smack at her hand some. "I'm up fuck just let me get dressed before you start nitpicking me!"

She laughed and cooed a bit before leaving you to get up in peace. You brushed at your hair and shoved on a long sleeved black shirt and some khaki cargo shorts. After a few moments you shoved your way from the tent and stretched out your back giving way with relief and a loud pop.

"Ah Kar There you are! Don't forget your sunscreen we're about to go meet up with our escort, remember it's like an hour hike so tell me if you start to get dizzy at all an we'll take a break" Eridan said while swinging on a backpack loaded up with stuff.

"Yeah yeah I get it!" You grumbled annoyed at their constant picking.

It's not like you were that fucking weak. You could handle an hour walk not any different than p.e class.

\--

If you could meet your past self you would smack the shit out of them. You were oh so so very wrong about hiking an hour through thick jungle, uneven ground and large rocks. Oh and it was also hot as shit. Apparently since the sun here was so weak the plants had adapted to letting off heat which normally would have been very helpful for you if it didn't make the jungle Seriously like 104 degrees. You wiped sweat from your brow and trudged on hearing the sounds of rapids in the distance. You were lucky your blood kept you cooler than the rest who were sweating profusely and chugging water while wearing cool rags. You guess this curse of your blood wasn't the worse thing ever.

The treeline broke way to a large, and you mean fucking large, river. Seriously that thing had to have been at least half a mile wide! Yet that wasn't even the most shocking thing. At the edge of the river besides a giant canoe was a tall, humanoid figure. As you got closer you could see the slate grey of his skin, and the broad horns jutting out from the side of his skull. His nose had what looked like a small bone through it and his face had lines of red painted across it. You also noticed how very little clothing they wore, he basically had what looked like some hide shorts and pieces of carved jewelry and that was it. When he noticed us he crossed a fist over his chest and bowed making a series of noises at Eridan who returned the strange salute. They seemed to speak for a bit in a weird language that to you sounded more like insects.

"This is Rufio, he'll be escorting us along with his son Tavros to the village!" Eridan exclaimed happily while Feferi also introduced herself.

You hadn't noticed the much smaller boy beside rufio who looked similar with red on his face and bull like horns but he was much smaller and didn't have any of the striking paint on his face. Your group started boarding up onto the canoe but you were standing at the waters edge a ball of apprehension in your gut. The problem was that because of your rocky upbringing you had actually never learned how to swim and damn you did not feel like drowning today. This canoe looked like it was hollowed out from one of the bluer trees and had little carvings of symbols on the outside that you couldn't even begin to decipher.

"Come on Karkat it's safe I promise~!" Kanaya called holding her arms out to you.

You hesitantly took her hand having to cling to her arm for support while you threw one leg over the edge of the canoe glancing down at the water nervously. Eventually you made it into the canoe and sat in the middle clinging to seat and hoping to all fuck that it doesn't tip over. That would be your fucking luck to die right before your eighteenth birthday.

You noticed the small troll boy staring at you all funny and then making a series of noises at you.

"Uhhh...sorry I don't understand?" You replied confused.

He seemed to paused a bit and waved down Eridan who scooted over while he, you think his name was tavros, repeated what he was said? Clicked? Whatever noise he was making.

"Oh okay he's uh asking if you're okay around water suppose it is your choice to reply. He also says he can somewhat understand our language but isn't good at speaking much of it" Eridan translated for you.

You made a small face and looked away a bit. You had to admit to yourself that your fear of the water was a little stupid. It seemed like Eridan took your silence and seemed to answer for you you guessed. The taller of the two made a small whistle and Tavros looked up moving back over toward the older version of him to sit.

"Sorry Tavros first time with Human does not know speak well yet" The older one said in a broken English with a strange heavy accent.

"Uhh oh no it's fine I don't really know much of your language either...rufio was it?"

He seemed to smile a big grin at you showing teeth a little sharper than yours though it didn't seem threatening any.

"We teach you will learn much" He grinned while running the long sticker paddle through the water propelling us forward.

It reminded you of those people in Italy who would maneuver through streams with nothing but a stick. It seemed like hard work but he also seemed very muscular so you think maybe it was fairly easy for him. You guess since you all would be here a while it wouldn't hurt to hurt their language. You know Eridan had made a sort of translation booklet from his last visit so you figure you could read that on the way there maybe learn to at least introduce yourself or avoid any unnecessary inflict because of some bullshit cultural difference or a lack of understanding.

"Eridan could I see that little booklet?" You asked trying to seem more nonchalant about it.

Eridan grinned some at you and rummaged into his bag to produce the small book holding it to you. "Be careful with it~ took a long time to make that!"

You just nodded and flipped it open. There were a bunch of writings by some symbols along with various drawing of poses and body language. You started practicing quietly on your own and after a good several attempts you think you've learned their version of hello. You also didn't realize that body language and hand signals were also fairly common forms of interpretation get their meaning on certain words. There were drawing of certain body languages that meant if someone was welcoming, relaxed, aggravated, and even if they were dangerous. You kept practicing for a bit and finally got good enough to have a sort of greeting you also learned that the salute with their fist over their chest was common for welcoming someone in a respectful manner. After a good while of spacing out studying shit you felt a lurch in the boat that caused your adrenaline to spike. Were we tipping had we hit something!? Was there a big creature about to eat us?? Upon inspection it just seemed like Rufio had pulled us over to our destination.

"We walk now not far" Rufio spoke all broken and hopped off the canoe partially into the water and pulling it along with all of us on it to tether it to a large tree with several other cables of varying sizes. One by one you all exited the canoe. You were excessively happy to be leaving that douche canoe. You managed to exit it all on your own and stretch a bit. You hadn't realized how tensed up you had been the whole ride and now your shoulders were all sore and stiff.

"This way keep near" Rufio called out leading your group into the thick of the jungle.

You followed behind at the end of the train looking around at the vast canopy and the several...birds? Or at least bird like creatures zipping between branches. A loud crack of thunder made you yelp in surprise before heavy rain suddenly came down on top of you like a sheet.

"It's a squall! Let's take cover it shouldn't last long at all!" Eridan yelled to your group but you couldn't really see them anymore through the thick rain and mist. You tried bumbling around blind as fuck and before you knew it you were taking cover under a thankfully sturdy large leaf watching the rain come down harder than you've seen at any time at home.

If you stuck your hand out you couldn't really see it even though it was a few inches past the safety of your leaf shield. Thunder boomed around you seeming to echo off the massive junglescape. Soon you felt water dripping into you from a tear in the leaf that led to it pouring and ripping straight through it. Your protective cover was now gone and you were quickly drenched in the lukewarm shower. You scrambled to your feet bumping around trying to find shelter until it passed and eventually came to a hollowing in a large jungle tree that you quickly squished yourself into. You were panting and your eyes stung from the amount of water in them. Thank everything this wasn't a planet with acid rain or something. You supposed you could just stay here for a bit you were sure that the ra wouldn't break through a whole tree and it was still mostly dry.

You stepped back and felt yourself brush against something a bit more solid than what you were expecting. You swallowed hard and turned as a hand gripped around your shoulder shoving you hard against the inside of the tree an inhuman growl breathing against your neck.

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck! This was it you crawled into some stupid animals home and now you were going to get mauled to death.

You opened your eyes to peak and were almost relieved that it was actually a native and not some terrifying wild beast. He was crushing himself against you his most firmly in your neck and inhaling deeply. Through the dark you could see the glint of his eyes that shone a deep purple.

"H..hello" You mumbled in his language not sure if you were even really pronouncing it properly but this guy was scaring the fuck out of you.

His horns sat on top of his head curling up in a corkscrew to some sharp as hell points and you could see the light reflect off his fangs. Fuck you were convinced he was going to kill you. However he paused some when you spoke his language and leaned back from your neck to stare at your face seeming to study it. A glint of curiosity reflected off his face and you recognized his body language from the book as going from dangerous to curious.

"M..my name is..Karkat" You tried again to speak at him and he tilted his head moving a clawed slate grey hand to start patting into your hair.

If you weren't so fucking terrified you think you could have laughed at the expression of pure confusion that he wore. He started poking at your face and grabbed your chin turning your head this way and that. He spoke some of his language at you mumbling it under his breath while he leaned to smell at your hair.

"Could you maybe let me the fuck go?" You asked starting to get rather annoyed at his antics.

He seemed to pause some at that and stare at you tilting his head and speaking at you again. You made an annoyed sigh and wiggled a hand free to shove it into his face pushing him back. You noticed now that his face was all painted up with a darkened eyes and a wide grin. He seemed genuinely surprised at that motion and you brushed the invisible dust off you noting that the rain was letting up a bit. He moved over to you and curiously poked at your side making you squeak and cover your side. Fuck that hurt. You're skin was still so sensitive to touch.

"Stop that!" You yelled at him rubbing the spot that definitely would bruise.

What was he a big child or something? You suddenly remembered your not sure what their children looked like. But judging by how tall this fucker was you doubt he was a child and just resorted to thinking him as a retarded manbaby. In a swift tug you were suddenly picked up and staring down at the ground.

"Woah hey fuck no put me down you gigantic asshat! What the fuck you cant just pick someone up!" You screeched having been sling over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

He seemed to ignore you just straight up heading out into the lesser rain and walking off in a direction. Oh fuck no. You were not getting kidnapped by some wild clown face fucker. Cue you immediately trying to wiggle out of his hold and beating at his back.

"Put me the fuck down now! Let go you fucking overgrown asshole!! I am not a goddamn toy put me down!" You yelled trying to kick your legs in a feeble attempt to get him to drop you.

A loud smack sounded and you felt a stinging across your ass. You yelped loudly as another smack hit across you making a painful sting spread across your cheeks. A few more hits later and you felt your eyes well up, he definitely wasn't holding back on any strength. Your ass was radiated soreness now and you were groaning softly. He made a small hum noise and kept on walking seeming to ignore your pathetic attempt at not crying. You knew for sure your ass was going to be all bruised up now. You hadn't ever been spanked as a kid really because Eridan knew about your mutation which led you to be extremely sensitive to pain and sunlight and such like that so usually you just got grounded and lost privileges and shit. You decided that you would just be still an let him take you wherever the fuck you were going. Shit Wait what if he was going to like rape you or something! You were still a virgin and you seriously didn't want to think about what kind of grotesque grey genitals he had under that hide flap. Fuck this was it you were either going to be raped or murder and eaten or all three and you wish you hadn't come on this stupid trip at all.

Eventually you came to a wooden bungalow type structure held up on beams and he hoisted you up the ladder and inside the building depositing you rather roughly into a large pile of blankets that you had a big suspicion were animal hides. You looked up afraid on what he planned to do next but he just shut the woven door you had come in on. He looked over at you and you could see the deep purple of his eyes now all studying you from an area that looked like a kitchenette. Well it was more like some woven wood shelves and a large carved rock bowl.

\--

You had some unmirthful timing going fishing. On your way back to your new home you got trapped in the fairly common sudden downpour and you quickly found shelter out in a hollowed tree to wait it out. You hoped the rain would end soon or you would just have to set up fire here and cook dinner. Shit would not be very fun because the tree would start getting smoked up and you would have to cook the fish quickly so as not to smoke yourself out.

As you were pondering your dinner situation a large figure came rushing into the hiding spot scaring the fucking shit out of you. Naturally you slammed it up against the wall but paused looking him over. It wasn't like any creature you had seen before. For starters his skin was all soft and a strange peachy color and he didn't have any horns? You felt along his head and confirmed indeed that he didn't have any horns.

"How strange.." you muttered more toward yourself now but he glanced up at you while you were moving his face inspecting him closer.

"H..hello" he muttered in your language sounding all quiet and timid with a strange accent on the word.

Maybe he was like some abandoned mutated wriggler from a different village? He sure as hell did look enough young enough to not be of adult age yet, at least he was definitely small enough.

"How old are you?" You asked and he seemed rather confused at your question.

Huh. Maybe the little fucker didn't know much talking. You could tell from your hold on him he was pretty fucking cold down to the bone and soaked through his...really strange clothing? All of a sudden a hand was shoved into your face catching you off guard and making you step back in surprise. The little hornless fucker started shouting and yelling in a language you ain't really understand. You think maybe he was just in distress from being abandoned. Poor little motherfucker. You know had only just passed your ritual of adulthood but fuck if you weren't going to adopt this little weird looking fucker immediately. You reached over to quickly scoop the little guy over your shoulder. Actually your not really sure if he was a boy or not but you guessed so. You started heading out into the rain now that it had let up some but the little fucker was all kicking and screaming. You didn't mind much at first until a leg kicked all dangerously close to your crotch and you let out an annoyed warning growl but he kept on kicking. You raised a hand and smack I'm across the ass, he did quiet down a bit from that besides a Surprised yelp. You guess if you were going to up an parent him you'd have to punish him too. Got to learn not to be all kickin and screaming so you smacked at him hard a few times until you heard the small pained whimper and decided that was enough. It must have worked nicely because he stayed quieted down the rest of the trip. You felt a bit guilty at having to hurt the little guy already but it was pretty obvious he needed some strict parenting. Maybe you could make him some food when you got back An he could all see you was just helping him.

"We're almost there~!" You announces happily humming all soft to try an keep him calm. You think maybe he didn't like the rain much.

Eventually you made you way back to your new hole you constructed yourself a couple solar cycles back when you had completed your rite into adulthood and earned your place among your people and your right to have your full face painted up. It was weird being an adult and living all on your own especially because you weren't really all that interested in anyone in the village. There was a cute little olive sister that had been teetering in getting your interest. Making you clothing and bringing you by food sometimes, and she was all nice and pretty and a fierce huntress but you couldn't really bring yourself to connect to her all in the right ways so you think that maybe it wasn't all meant to be like that.

Once you all got up in your little home you plopped your little ward into your wicked bitchin pile of furs you had killed, skinned and dried yourself. He stared up at you the poor soaked thing shivering and looking all real scared. You looked around trying to think of what might help him. You realized you didn't really know much on how to take care of a kid. Well shit. You wanted the little guy to all get his relaxing on while you cooked so that you wouldn't have to worry about him up and running off with your back turned. You could maybe tie a limb down to the fronds but think that might make him freak out a bit more. You caught a glance of one of your clay pots all labeled Sopor. That would work! Get him his all relax on maybe even get him warmed up and sleeping. You grabbed some of the plant that had been ground and mushed down to a paste and rubbed it between your fingers before heading back over to your new small child. You leaned down in front of him and he pressed himself further into the blankets staring all wide eyed at you. Poor little thing must be cold.

"Open up~" You called cheerfully and pressed your fingers toward his mouth.

He made a small noise and shoved away from your hand making you frown. You guessed maybe the stuff was kinda gross to a kid, you had become used to the subtle bitterness. Still it would be all good for him to be taking this so you pressed your fingers over against his lips hoping he would see that he needed to take it. You yelled a bit as a couple blunt teeth but down all hard at your finger still leaving the slime there. You huffed a bit and went to grab his arm tugging him foreword since he didn't have any horns for you to pull at. He started all up yelling and squirming but you managed to shove two fingers in past his dull teeth scraping the sopor mush into his mouth an quickly covering it with your hand. After a few struggles he swallowed it and you pulled back grinning all happily. You pet at his head letting him know it was all good and you could see the reaction of the sopor starting to relax his muscles and his eyes all dropping. Good good. You picked him up to adjust him into the blankets bundling him up in a particularly fluffy one while you went to start heating up your cooking fire pit. This fish was going to be bitchtits especially because you borrowed some herbs from Meulin, Nepetas mother, who was dating your elder brother Kurloz. You began getting your cook on and glanced occasionally at your little guest all snug in your wools. The sight made you smile all wide now while you seared at the fish you had caught and been carrying in your leather back pouch. Man you were a bitchin parent!

\--

Not even an hour in and you had already fucking lost Karkat. Great. To say you were freaking out was an understatement. Your group had made it back to the village in time to meet with the chief, a large muscular man with large spiraling goat horns, deep purple eyes, and a painted face that resembled a skull but with a jagged mouth line. You had met him before a couple times on other expeditions and he knew English fairly decently. After you had explained the situation he had generously offering a small search party to retrieve your member. You explained he hadn't been here before and were worried about him being hurt. The chief, also known as the Grand Highblood, nodded in understanding and said he would ask his own personal sons to help locate the boy as his oldest was good at tracking and his younger was in training to be a fairly good warrior. You thanked him excessively and bowed in respect. Worried had built itself a home in your stomach and you were very concerned for Karkats safety especially since he also didn't really know the language or customs here.

"It's alright Eridan I'm sure Karkat will be fine he's a reely smart kid!" Feferi patted at your back trying to offer some comfort.

"What if he got hurt or attacked by a creature, or ran into someone Nd and..." A sharp stinging in your face made you stop and rub at your face.

"Sorry Eri But you needed to clam down! Karcrab will be just fine just got to wait for them to find him! They know the area better and he couldn't have gone far in that rain so he probably just took shelter somewhere near by~" Feferi explained with a calming smile.

You smiled a bit at her the worry fading just a bit. "Yeah yeah that's right~"

\--

You were more than slightly aggravated when your father the Highblood busted into your home to have you set up a search for a missing outsider. Still you couldn't deny him so you pried yourself away from your sleeping mate to go retrieve your younger brother from his hive across the other side of the village. Your not sure why he chose to make his hive so much further from everyone else's but it wasn't really for you to question. He had passed his rite into adulthood and was capable of making his own choices. You did however wish he would choose a mate already. His pheromones did come on rather strongly and he needed someone around to help that. After walking through the village bowing respectfully to a few elders you found yourself in front of Gamzees home which despite its location seemed to be built rather sturdy. You strolled up and tapped at the front entrance covered by a wicker door. You could hear shuffling inside and Gamzee opened the door seeming rather surprised to see you.

"Hey elder brother! Kurloz I didn't know you'd all be stopping by? I just made some dinner if you all feeling to join?" He greeted with a big smile to you. You knew he always admired and looked up to both you and your father.

You had your tongue cut out when you were fairly young for daring to transgress against your elders so you have learned to communicate with hands and body taught at you by the other quiet members of your tribe. That was how you fell in love with your mate meulin who was an amazing cook and herbalist but had lost her ability to hear at a young age thus wasn't able to become a hunter like she wanted.

"We have outsiders visiting our family tribe this solar sweep, you were off on the hunt the last they came so you have not yet to meet them. One of their younger members seemed to have been lost in the rain and father asked of us to help in locating the boy." You signed with your hands and body.

Naturally when you had your tongue cut out your brother learned the hand signs with you claiming it wouldn't change their relationship any.

Gamzee seemed all surprised at this news and glanced to something behind him all nervously. You squinted at him in suspicion and signed for what he was looking at. He tried to close the door more to block your vision and you growled in your throat a small warning. He was hiding something and you think you all knew what it was. It wasn't hard to shove your frame into the doorway past him and your eyes widened in shock. The missing outsider was now curled up in Gamzees pile smelling strongly of sopor. You turned to glare at Gamzee.

"You took him!? Gamzee how could you be so stupid!" You signed angrily.

He looked down guiltily and moved over to the boy.

"I uhhh might have motherfucking adopted him~?" Gamzee grinned and you made an annoyed noise pinching your nose.

"What!?" You signed at him. "Gamzee you cannot adopt him he has a custodian already who is actively looking for him! You need to return him now."

Gamzee frowned and looked between you and the boy giving a loud huff.

"I found him he should be mine!" Gamzee argues and you give a loud throaty roar of dominance at him making him flinch back.

He might have been an adult now but you were elder to him and he had to obey your command.

"Now Gamzee. Get him and let's go. " You commanded exiting the him bowing with that he would follow your orders.

\--

Your head and arms felt so heavy and everything around you was a mass of colors and shapes blurring by. Fuck where were you going? You felt yourself lifted up and you cuddled against the heat source feeling way too cold for your liking. There was a bunch of jumbled yelling but you couldn't really make out what anyone was saying. Eventually more voices joined some sounding all panicked and you were set down again thankfully into something soft. An explosion of red entered your field of vision and you suddenly didn't feel nearly as cold anymore. You were thankful for that little blotch of red that was so warm.

\--

Shit you think you fucked up. Your dad was pissed at you and the little ward you was all up caring for was an outsider from another planet coming to up an visit to learn shit about your people and our ways of life. You had to admit your heart sank a bit at learning he already had a custodian who was now worriedly trying to get his attention. Your brother and father explained that the 'humans' they called them didn't ingest Sopor so it could have easily killed the boy. He said his name was Karkat and that this was his first time here, said he was planning on making some drawings of your area to follow around. Your dad cuffed your horn and dragged you outside making you grab a long thin stick as if you were still a child. Still you did it out of fear for a worse punishment if you refused an elder. You found a long, thin smooth one and presented it to him turning around with your arms crossed and your back bare to him. The first swoosh caught your ears before a sharp sting ran across your back making you bite at your tongue to not make noise. You were not a child and you would not be caught crying while punished. Several more ruthless whacks rained across your back each sending white hot pain up your some and blood dripping down your back. Still you did not move and did not make a sound. After a few painstaking minutes a rough cloth was rubbed down your back and your shoulder was patted. You had handled your punishment as an adult and were now forgiven. You bowed apologizing for making him use such means and thanked him for teaching you better. He nodded in approval and told you to clean up and apologize to the boy and his group. You left at the dismissal pain ebbing up and down your back. You went to a small well and wet a fiber cloth gently rubbing at the parts of your back you could reach. The pain was red hot an you did let out a shameless whimper but refused to cry. You shoved on a soft loose hide shirt that ended at the bottom of your ribs. It wasn't a far walk back to the medical bungalow where it seemed one of the 'humans' was helping Karkat throw up it tinted all green with the sopor. You didnfeel all guilty now that you could have killed the poor thing so you moved over to them and bowed all low despite the action sending waves of nauseating pain.

"I'm very sorry I didn't know he already had a caretaker...haven't met another species before so I didn't know the sopor would be bad for him I just thought he might have been abandoned..." you explained but only one guy with purple laces in his hair and the other one who looked to be making some kind of medicine seemed to understand you.

"Your elder father and brother explained the situation and while I am rather mad about the situation I will forgive you because I know you haven't been around humans before. " The one with purple hair spoke back at you in your language.

You nodded taking it as a forgiveness of sorts. Your eyes glanced over at Karkat who periodically would gag and try to throw up into a wooden bowl held for him. It seemed whatever herbs they gave him were making his body expel the unwanted stuff. You frowned a bit and glanced at the guy you think your brother said his name was Eridan. He said that was Karkats real custodian.

"Is it okay that I stay? " you mumbled the question at him looking down and expecting full well to be rejected. At first it looked like he was going to reject your question but the younger female with large pretty eyes smiled up at you.

"Of course you can help~!" She stated loudly with a large smile.

You offered a smile back at her and went to sit down beside Karkats bed of pelts. He looked pretty out of it and you think maybe you did give him a bit too much of the Sopor. You weren't really sure how much was a good amount for someone so small. You caught Eridan glancing at the bleeding welts across the part of your back still exposed. You did feel a pang if shame at your mistake but punishment wasn't something really to hide. You made a mistake, paid for it and we're forgiven.

"Punishment for my mistake." You explained at his confused facial expression.

He made a small hmm noise and then started writing something on what looked like brown dried leaves stitched together. The symbols were strange and you couldn't read them. You thought about asking him but Karkat stirred moving to curling back up in the hides. He looked even smaller all curled in those big things. You found yourself unwillingly making a small chirr at him then felt your face heat up under your paint. You had just made a parental noise at him in front of his actual guardian. Fortunately if he noticed he didn't seem to give it away.

You stayed there for a couple hours mostly watching an staying out of the way while they took care of Karkat. Obviously they knew more about his health than you would. You did see her shove something long and thin into his arm and a clear liquid disappeared into it. You asked her what it was and she said it would help him to not get really sick. You supposed it was a good thing then. Soon it was night and a good portion of the triple was out building the nightly fire and making food while other returned home for a private meal with family. The outsiders were hesitant to leave Karkat in the bungalow so you offered to watch him with a promise you wouldn't touch him unless he needed to empty his stomach again. They seemed hesitant but the nice one with the big smile said it would be a way to regain trust so she convinced them to leave the two of you alone so that they may join the around the nightly fire. You leaned back against the wall the light from the large fire outside danced little shadows in the room. You could smell the food outside that made you hungry but you would wait. After a good while Karkat stirred and his eyes opened making a soft groan.

"Hey there you all up an feeling sick still?" You asked keeping your voice all soft. Then you remembered the others saying they he didn't really understand much of your language.

You reached over and gently patted his stomach seeming to try an convey your question. He looked up at you seeming wary but he shook his head and you smiled at him grabbing a small wooden bowl of water to offer him. He glanced between the bowl and you and you realized maybe he would want to drink himself so you set the bowl gently in his hands. After a few moments he took a small sip before downing the whole thing while you grabbed another bowl of water. You chuckled all softly at that and handed him the next one to down. A few more bowls later he seemed satisfied and sat up a bit more without your help.

"Fuck ugh..." Karkat made a displeased noise and you think maybe his head was all hurting.

You bowed a little bit to him and glanced up some.

"Sorry." You mumbled knowing he would quite understand but that maybe he would get the sentiment.

He looked confused for a bit then flipped through a small book left by his custodian. He mumbled a bit to himself first then look at you.

"If you Sorry it fine just do not do again" He spoke aloud in your language which albeit was pretty broken and hard to understand but you could get the idea he was forgiving you which made you beyond happy.

You reached over and scruffed at his head. You couldn't believe how small he was but then again all of the humans were fairly small so maybe he wasn't a child after all? He slowly started to get up now and you watched leaving him to it mostly out of curiosity on if he needed your help. He seemed strong enough to get up on his own so you followed his motion getting up as well. After all you were also starving and hadn't eaten since lunch. Luckily your tribe usually made plenty of food for people to take back home so you knew there would be enough for you both. You lightly gestures him toward the door nudging your head for him to follow since he didn't seem to know many words yet. At least not in your language. Apparently from what you observed he was rather mouth in his own language. He didn't see to mind following you out of the bungalow and down into the large circle of your family sitting and happily chatting. For the most part Karkats small tribe was bundled in one spot but several were idly chatting with some of your natives you think trading questions. You think maybe you two should sit by your dad but then get a better thought to sit by his friends that spoke at your language. Maybe they could help him learn it too and you could get to asking the little shouty fucker some questions. You nudged him a bit to be all following you and you plopped down beside Rufio and his little boy a touch younger than you Tavros who you had to admit was a bit too cute but he was a kid and had another year to go before he was all available to be mating with anyone. Karkats friends seemed all happy to be seeing him and you think maybe they be real up and close despite being such a small tribe. Or maybe they just a small part of a big family? You made note to ask them later about their tribe and their home because you ain't seen any creatures as look like them before and it got you real curious. Food was quickly passed all down the line and you handed a bowl to Karkat all polite like. Everyone always sat in a circle with The GrandHighblood at the north corner then going clockwise the elders, Mothers, children, all the way with the warriors all being at the end. Food was always passed around counter clockwise and you kept handing it down to each other until everyone had a bowl then everyone would eat after prayer and once food was done the elders would get their tell on of some bitchin stories of your ancestors and a world before the starfall. Your Dad always told the best fucking stories but usually saved them for rare occasions and festivals. You guess he decided tonight was a good enough occasion with the outsiders that he seemed friendly enough with, because he began the origin story of your people first speaking in your native language then repeating in the outsiders language for them to learn.

"Some 800 sweeps ago there lived a vast kingdom of trolls. They were powerful, ruthless, warriors. Then a force they could not predict, a meteor, befell them and the kingdom perished into Ashe and ruins. The empire was no more. A star above them felt such deep sorrow for the loss of lives she had witnessed that she herself fell to the planet. She was known as the Sylph of Life, and taking pity on our race she breathed life into the creation of one member of each Color caste, six females and six males and dubbed that all members of this caste would be equal and live in harmony. The Sylph used the last of her power to heal this land of its scar and make it rich and bountiful in life. Then tired of all energy she returned to her slumber in the night sky to watch over our race. The species should have been doomed without the original mothergrub to birth our children but the kind Goddess took upon herself to gift us her new children with her own power of life and as such we now create life as well."

You looked beside you too see if Karkat was enjoying the story as much as you. His entire group actually seemed to be fairly invested watching all wide eyed while Eridan was quickly writing down in that weird thing of his.

"Like the story?" You asked at Karkat wondering if he could understand that at all.

Karkat looked at you seeming confused until Eridan repeated the translation.

"Oh uh yeah it's really cool" he replied and Eridan nicely translated for you.

You grinned all happily that he was enjoying your peoples story. You really wanted to get to know him and to also maybe figure out if he was an adult or not. You know your dad said he had a custodian but for the most part he looked to be able to hold himself but you guess you'd have to all wait and see him work.

"You draw things of places right?" You asked at him Eridan just automatically going to translate while writing.

Karkat listen and nodded a bit with a shrug. "Yeah I can like draw and map out places and how far they are and shit" he spoke via the translation.

You thought that was all cool as fuck and would love to see some drawings of places he'd been. That would be fucking wicked. But you think maybe you should wait to ask him of such things he did seem all tired out and you think maybe some of that miracle plant might be working in his system. Probably why he was still all being friendly at you and not hissing and spitting like a newborn bigcat. He did seem to fluff up when he got all shouty and you had to admit shit was cute as all fuck.

You were glad you all got to be talking a bit at him and that overall he didn't seem to hate you, at least not yet, for the big mixup. You really had no knowledge on that he was all visiting from somewhere off in the stars. You remember your dad telling you about the first time they came that it was a big shock but you were off that sweep hunting with some of the tribe far away and as thusly you didn't get to actually meet any of them let alone see what they looked like. You're not are what you had pictured outsiders from space to be all looking like but they sure were a hell of a lot smaller than you thought. Even the ones who seemed to obviously be adults were still a good couple heads shorter than you. You thinking that Karkat maybe the younger of the group, he seemed shorter than the rest and based on the way the tribe cared all for him you'd wager you were right. You still weren't really sure if he was an adult or not? You figure if he wasn't then he maybe would be one soon, based on height and attitude compared to the others. It seemed his shouty nature extended even to his group as well as he was currently getting his yell on at one of the females of the group who you think was all trying to mother at him. She kept trying to mess at his hair and wipe at his face like he was just a wriggler which was pretty damn funny because he would smack her hand away and yell.

It wasn't long before everyone began heading back on toward their homes. You stood as well stretching out and only minorly flinching at the rough pain in your back from the action. Might as well go sleep as well it was a very interesting day and you hoped tomorrow would be even more so.

"Night all" You spoke waving them as you heading back out toward your home.

It wasn't long after flopping on your stomach into the soft furs that you quickly drifted asleep surrounded by Karkats strange scent from his nap their earlier.


End file.
